Tyler+Trask



Burning of metal salts!

Chemistry plays a part in every aspect of our day to day lives, and is largely incorporated in how we celebrate certain occasions. Whether it's Canada day, the Chinese new year, Olympics, or any other event that deserves a grand welcome, we celebrate with fireworks. These man made stars that illuminate the sky are created through a chemical process depending on the desired color, height, size and style. This article is simply focused on the color aspect of fireworks, and the different chemicals and methods to achieve certain colors. There are two main ways to achieve a color, and they are through **incandescence** and **luminescence**.
 * **Incandescence-** This method uses heat to make the components of the firework glow. certain metals when burned, such as magnesium, glow brighter, you can thus control the brightness with the addition or removal of certain substances, such as charcoal.
 * **Luminescence -** This method uses energy generated from electrons that become "excited", the energy is expelled to produce the colors seen in fireworks when the electron returns to a lower state of energy.

For the majority of fireworks, it is required to burn metal salts, below is a table of colors and the required substances.

lithium carbonate, Li2CO3 = red strontium carbonate, SrCO3 = bright red || calcium chloride, CaCl2 calcium sulfate, CaSO4**·**xH2O, where x = 0,2,3,5 || sodium nitrate, NaNO3 cryolite, Na3AlF6 || barium oxide, BaO || barium chloride, BaCl+ = bright green || copper acetoarsenite (Paris Green), Cu3As2O3Cu(C2H3O2)2 = blue copper (I) chloride, CuCl = turquoise blue ||
 * **Color** || **Compound** ||
 * Red || strontium salts, lithium salts
 * Orange || calcium salts
 * Gold || incandescence of iron (with carbon), charcoal, or lampblack ||
 * Yellow || sodium compounds
 * Electric White || white-hot metal, such as magnesium or aluminum
 * Green || barium compounds + chlorine producer
 * Blue || copper compounds + chlorine producer
 * Purple || mixture of strontium (red) and copper (blue) compounds ||
 * Silver || burning aluminum, titanium, or magnesium powder or flakes ||

Helmenstine, Ph.D., A. (n.d.). //Chemistry of firework colors//. Retrieved from http://chemistry.about.com/od/fireworkspyrotechnics/a/fireworkcolors.htm

= DIY - Help save the economy! =

Ever thought to yourself... "hey, I want to the save the environment, and I just happen to have all this vegetable oil lying around..." Well, probably not, but in the off chance you have, my recommendation is this - Biodiesel!

This form of fuel is a clean alternative that is biodegradable and non-toxic, and on top of that, you can make it yourself! What more could you ask for? Through a process called transesterification, you can create biodiesel with three simple ingredients, an alcohol, a catalyst and some form of "feedstock", examples are vegetable oil, cooking oil, animal fats, etc... Between these simple ingredients, there a chemical reaction that will produce biodiesel.

If you're interested in making your own biodiesel, possibly in the comfort of your own home, check out this do-it-yourself page on making biodiesel!

Natural Resources Canada. (2009, April 21). //Biodiesel//. Retrieved from http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fuels/biodiesel/biodiesel.cfm Gable, C, & Gable, S. (n.d.). //Learn to make your own biodiesel//. Retrieved from http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/biodiesel/ss/makebiodiesel1.htm

=Stuck on Magnets =

So when we were in class discussing the light being shone onto the potassium and cesium (I believe?), we learned that the frequency was able to knock off some electrons giving the metals a positive charge. It brought up the question between Scott and I about if this would be how magnets are made, and if not then how?

I figure that really the best why to learn how a magnet is made is simply through the use of this clip from the TV series "how it's made". media type="youtube" key="XRSqjifVMJw" height="344" width="425" align="center"

Summarizing the Video: Essentially, they make a mold for the desired shape of the magnet out of sand, then fill the mold with various metals such as copper, cobalt, sulfur, nickle, pure iron, aluminum and titanium. The metals are melted down in a furnace that creates electromagnetic waves (an electrical induction furnace) and reaches temperatures of more then 1600 degrees Celsius. The metal is then poured into the molds, which ignite due to the gases inside the mold that were used to harden the sand. The molds are broken apart and the metal sorted out, still without a charge. The magnets-to-be are heated and given a proper magnetic orientation, then placed on a machine that delivers an electromagnetic charge to magnetizes it.

"How it's Made magnets." //you tube//. Web. 23 Mar 2010. .

Burning your Cash A simple magic trick consists of burning money, but after the flames are out, the bill is undamaged!

This trick is produced simply by soaking a dollar bill in a solution that is composed of 50% alcohol (95 - 100%) and 50% water. Add salt, or one of the materials listed below to produce a visible or colored flame. After the bill is lit, the alcohol will begin to burn, but the temperature will not be high enough to evaporate the water. The end result? an amazed crowd and a slightly soggy bill.

The chemical reaction of the alcohol burning is as follows, the alcohol burns creating light and heat as energy, with water and carbon dioxide as byproducts. C2H5OH + 4 O2 -> 2 CO2 + 3 H2O + energy or Sodium Carbonate || 1 part Potassium Nitrate (saltpeter) || PhDHelmensteine, Anne Marie. "Burning Money Chemistry Demonstration." //About.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr 2010. .
 * **Color** || **Chemical** ||
 * Carmine || Lithium Chloride ||
 * Red || Strontium Chloride ||
 * Orange || Calcium Chloride (a bleaching powder) ||
 * Yellow || Sodium Chloride (table salt)
 * Yellowish Green || Borax ||
 * Green || Copper Sulfate or Boric Acid ||
 * Blue || Copper Chloride ||
 * Violet || 3 parts Potassium Sulfate
 * Purple || Potassium Chloride ||
 * White || Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom salts? ||

Brain Freeze!! Neat little kind of unrelated topic... So at lunch today I was pondering what I should do as a wiki post, and after some consideration and deep thought, Mitch gave me my topic. We decided that I should do a post on liquid nitrogen, which seems like a cool topic ( no pun intended) so I get home and procrastinate watch some TV, and behold, myth busters special on liquid nitrogen as I'm channel surfing.. weird coincidence? I think not!

So anyways down to business... Liquid nitrogen is well, nitrogen in a liquid state, at incredibly low temperatures. It's made by compressing nitrogen and cooling it so it will expand and eventually when it can no longer expand it becomes a liquid (I'm not entirely sure how it works out but that was the best description I could find on how to make it). Liquid nitrogen is cryogenic meaning that it is incredibly good at freezing objects very rapidly. Of course a substance like this would initiate a lot of myths, and below are the two they used in mythbusters. For some reason I can't seem to find the entire clips, so I'll tell you what happens afterward. media type="youtube" key="dqKTGXa-bTM" height="379" width="639" align="center" media type="youtube" key="mVtVZrijx_Q" height="385" width="640" align="center"

For the heads they create one of ice to get the full shatter effect, one is used as a test to see how an unfrozen one works, the second is dipped for the five seconds and the last is dipped for five minutes. There is no true explosive shatter, but it's still really interesting, and if you can find the video showing it I would appreciate knowing where it can be found. The tree did not explode either, this is because when the water freezes, it does indeed expand but it will fill in air pockets spaced through out the tree as a natural pressure release in a sense. This is what prevents trees in sub zero temperatures from exploding left and right on a cold winter night.

"Liquid nitrogen." //Wikipedia//. Wikipedia, 2 April 2010. Web. 10 Apr 2010. . " MythBusters - Hurricane Windows - Shattering Heads ." //Youtube//. Web. 10 Apr 2010. . " MythBusters - Hurricane Windows - Exploding Frozen Tree ." //Youtube//. Web. 10 Apr 2010. .

Sulfur Hexafloride

This simple non toxic and colorless gas can be seen as being almost the opposite of helium. Sulfur hexafloride is six times heavier then air, while helium is six times lighter. Another opposite is that while helium makes your voice raise after you "eat" it, sulfur hexafloride will deepen it. This interesting gas is used in various chemical demonstrations, such as floating your boat and deepening your voice.

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States of matter - all 6 of them? That's right, it would seem we've been deceived all these years into believing there were only 3 states of matter when in fact there are twice that number! The first three that we are all familiar with are solid liquid and gas, these three are all thermal, meaning that their particles can move in 3 dimensions, or expand. There is in fact a fourth thermal state of matter, and it is known as plasma.

Plasma is essentially ionic gas, composed of electrons and ions, and forms over 90% of the matter in our universe. The most common source of this matter? Stars! The energy generated by the stars through heat and light is enough to peel away the electrons from the gases that they are composed f forming these ionic gases and maintaining them in this sate.

Another state of matter is Bose-Einstein. This is a state of matter that occurs when the temperature of a gas reaches absolute zero. When this happens the atoms of the gas can be thought of more akin to waves then to actual particles, and as the particles become more wavelike, they overlap more and more, causing them to condense, making them more of a mesh of various atoms that share their "identity".

The states of matter are determined by quantities of energy in the matter, the higher the energy of the matter, the more likely it is to produce heat. Bose - Einstein is classified as 0, seeing as it is the lowest possible temperature, even colder then the depths of space, which are 3 Kalvins above absolute zero. in the case of Bose-Einstein, the atoms do not move what so ever, and it is non thermal. Following this are solid liquid and gas, being 1, 2 and 3 respectively. All three of these are thermal, with atoms capable of moving in all three dimensions. The next highest state of matter is plasma, it has energy of less then that of the hottest plasma which is a supernova with 10 5 eV, (electron volts - the amount of energy generated by a unbound electron accelerating through an electric potential difference of one volt).

The sixth (and hopefully final) state of matter allows use to explain occurrences such as those in lightning, solar flares, and the jets of young stars, blacks hole and neutron stars with greater then 10 5 eV. A solar flare will have 10 10 eV. These extremely high electron volts are in the final state of matter called filaments. The particles in filaments move in only in one direction. The incredible thing about filaments is that they are not thermal!

Fingers and Forensics Despite what you may think based shows such as CSI and Law and Order, retrieving finger prints can be a difficult process, especially if it has to be done on a non porous surface. Most current methods that are used to determine a print rely upon the chemistry of the print, meaning the various oils and substances secreted from our fingers. If a print is older or on a non porous surface, the oils will dry up or not have and means of staying in place very well. This new method allows for prints to be collected from a surface without changing the chemistry of the print.

The chemistry of the print is important because it can react with a variety of chemicals to create a visible florescent trace, or be tract by x-ray and infrared. The chemistry of the print can be important in determining who left it as well, things such as a vague idea of age, or if it were a lactating mother can be determined by the chemistry.

The process allows for vaporized materials to form a film with a vacuum over the finger print, causing the ridges and valleys to become more noticeable and easier to distinguish. The article here goes into much more detail, if you're interested check it out!

Mentos and Coke. I'm pretty sure that everyone has already seen a Mentos and coke demonstration before, and probably even done one themselves. I figured that since this is one of our first exposures to chemistry in action, it might be interesting to see how it actually works. The video below is pretty self explanatory, enjoy a classic!

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Combustion i realize that this one is more physics based due to the fact that it's using sound waves, but there's combustion taking place so I thought it might count. What's happening is that there is a tube sealed at both ends, with a speaker at one end and a supply of flammable gas coming in the other. The tube is punctured by regular holes throughout its length and sound is sent down it's length after the escaping gases have been lite. The sound will enter the confined space and create reflections and interference which will create a standing wave that is then shown in flame. The flames change because the air pressure within the tube is changing affecting the levels of gas within the tube. media type="youtube" key="4WRriANvo1c" height="385" width="480" align="center"